Eles can talk

I held my Aurora in place for only a moment, gauging his approach, and then Fluctuated, flickering away just as he cut through the space I’d inhabited. Even as I moved, I let Xihai slip from my flesh, her spiritual presence seeming to rise from my skin like water vapor—and while I disappeared, she remained just where she was, forming a forming a physical form from the surrounding water. That was part of the reason I hadn’t put aside Varuna instantly, in fact; though I didn’t consider it the best of my Elemental Embodiment skills, it did have a fair bit going for it, among them the casual ability to either summon or create water. Without any increase in cost, Aurora had generated a massive amount of water; enough to flood skyscrapers and more than enough to serve my and Xihai’s needs.

As Gilgamesh hit the other side of the rough sphere my Aurora had created, he didn’t pierce through—rather, the sphere distorted, a portion of it stretching out with him and turning it into an odd cone-like shape as water pulled at him even as he pushed forward, slowing him slightly. At the same time, the rough coils of the former water spout transitioned into actual coiled, complete with dark blue scales. It spiraled upwards, water swirling into a more definite shape as it gathered into the form of giantess with six arms who’s body flowed seamlessly into the serpentine scales just above her waist. Even as Gilgamesh finally broke free of the water’s grasp and literally exploded out of her back, she didn’t so much as flinch, water shifting back into place ever as what was boiled away began to condensate. Instead, she simply looked at Gilgamesh with nine pitch-black orbs; two in her face, one at her collar bone, and one on each of her arms, just below where her shoulders merged. From each of the eyes came a steady stream of clear water, flowing into and feeding the rest of her body.

Of all the improvements I’d made prior to this battle, this was, while not the greatest, definitely one of the closest to my heart—my Elementals had made the jump from Lesser Elementals to True Elementals, with my Elemental Affinities all doubling in the process. More importantly than that, however, was the changes that had come to my friends.

“Stop, monster,” Xihai said calmly, forming the sounds on her own as she watched her foe. “We won’t allow you to do as you please any longer.”